Comments Off on Ovechkin and Backstrom explode for four points each as Capitals take out Tampa Bay 5-2 in Southeast clash

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It’s a bit early in the season for calling any game a “must-win” brand of game, but for the Capitals tonight against Tampa Bay, they had a few things to prove. They had to prove they could beat Dwayne Roloson and they had to prove they could score goals against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Mission accomplished for the Capitals as they crashed the net early and got both Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin rolling offensively in a 5-2 win over the Lightning.

Backstrom and Ovechkin each had four points, Backstrom with two goals and two helpers while Ovechkin tallied a goal and three assists, to pace the once-slumping Caps offense. The Lightning got on the board first as Teddy Purcell scored his 11th of the year at 3:21 of the first. It wouldn’t be much long after that that the Caps showed they wouldn’t take another one lying down.

At 8:21 of the first period, Matt Hendricks crashed the Lightning net colliding with Roloson causing Roloson to get angry about it. The two picked up matching minors but the play set the tone for the night that the Caps weren’t going to sit idly by and let the Lightning dictate the pace of the game.

Just 38 seconds after the matching minors, Backstrom picked up his first of two goals on the night to tie the game at 1-1. The Caps then scored two straight in the second period from Broooks Laich and Ovechkin before Tampa’s Brett Clark scored a power play goal to cut the lead to 3-2. In the third, Backstrom added his second of the night while Jason Chimera later added an empty net goal to provide the final score.

Semyon Varlamov was steady in what proved to be a quiet night for him as he had to make just 21 saves in the win. Roloson was a bit busier as he stopped 31 shots in the loss. The story here though was about the Caps showing up in a big way playing their most complete game of the year. This win sets things up for a knock-down drag-out affair with the Penguins on Sunday afternoon on NBC as the Pens won their fifth straight tonight in a 3-2 comeback win over Buffalo. If the Caps offense is indeed back and firing on all cylinders, it should create quite the atmosphere at Verizon Center in Washington on Sunday.